Trail du Livradois-Forez

The Trail du Livradois-Forez is a 50-kilometer trail race with 2,200 meters of elevation gain starting from Ambert, in Puy-de-Dome, in the heart of the Livradois-Forez Regional Natural Park. This event crosses one of the wildest and least populated territories in Auvergne, a land of immense forests, high mountain pastures, and villages lost in the folds of the mountains.

The Livradois-Forez is a double massif, composed of the Forez Mountains to the east and the Livradois Mountains to the west, separated by the Dore valley. The Forez Mountains peak at Pierre-sur-Haute, at 1,634 meters, and their summits are covered with hautes chaumes, vast expanses of wind-battered high-altitude pastures from which the view extends to the Alps in clear weather. The Livradois Mountains, more modest, are covered with fir and spruce forests among the largest in France.

The Trail du Livradois-Forez course chains forest crossings and climbs to the ridges, through a landscape that evokes the taiga through the density of its coniferous forests and the immensity of its uninhabited spaces. Runners enter forests so deep that daylight struggles to reach the ground, before emerging onto the high pastures where the panorama suddenly opens across hundreds of kilometers.

The 2,200 meters of elevation gain make this a demanding event, with long, sustained climbs to the summits. The terrain is varied: wide forest tracks, rocky mountain trails on the ridges, peatland and wetland passages, and dirt paths between pastures. Livradois-Forez weather conditions can be harsh, with wind, rain, and fog descending rapidly onto the high pastures.

Ambert, a small town of papermaking and fourme cheese, is the beating heart of the Livradois. Fourme d'Ambert, an AOP blue-veined cow's milk cheese, is one of the oldest cheeses in France and the region's unmissable specialty. Ambert's round town hall, unique in France, and the Richard-de-Bas mill, the last artisanal paper mill still in operation, bear witness to this town's distinctive heritage.

The Trail du Livradois-Forez crosses a territory marked by rural exodus and the return to nature. Abandoned hamlets, overgrown by vegetation, stand alongside farmhouses restored by neo-rurals who have chosen this austere land for its beauty and tranquility. Runners traverse this landscape of solitude and raw beauty, far from beaten paths and crowds, in a trail experience that approaches adventure.

Aid stations celebrate the Auvergne terroir: Fourme d'Ambert, Cotes d'Auvergne wine, mountain charcuterie, and tome tart. The atmosphere is that of a race of enthusiasts, where the territory's authenticity and the generosity of the welcome more than compensate for the absence of glamour. The Trail du Livradois-Forez is an event for lovers of wild nature and wide-open spaces.